Lightsaber Unleashed App – Feel the force on your iPhone

Lightsaber Unleashed is a free Star Wars light saber emulator for the Apple iPhone. It is one of the most popular and downloaded apps in the App Store.

Nearly every kid growing up has played “light sabers” at some point in time. Now every big kid around has the chance to turn their iPhone into that iconic Jedi weapon (well, kind of).

Lightsaber was developed by Lucasfilm Ltd. and is actually a very savvy marketing ploy for the new Star Wars game The Force Unleashed, which just so happens to be available on iPhone, amongst other platforms. Upon opening the app, an advertisement for the game pops up and lasts for almost 10 seconds before you can use the light saber. It is a little frustrating.

The in-your-face advertising aspect aside, Lightsaber is still a really cool app. Ultimately, it serves no purpose beyond the simulation of a light saber, but that is function enough for my needs.

Once loaded, the main screen for this app presents you with a few options. You can deploy your light saber by tapping once on the screen – which initiates a graphic and the characteristic sound from the movies – a novelty unlikely to ever wear out. The screen takes on the appearance (color) of your chosen light saber and begins to hum gently.

The Lightsaber app uses the built-in accelerometer to sense your movements. Slowly move the iPhone, and it will sound as if a light saber were passing through the air in front of you. Swing quickly and it responds with the sound of two light-sabers clashing. Very cool. By holding and maneuvering the iPhone in much the same way you would were it a real sword, you can generate the sounds of your own little light saber battle.

The other features that come with the app don’t really add much more to the functionality. There is dramatic music that you can turn on and off (which I actually thought was kind of neat), and there is also a character selection screen. You can choose from some familiar names like Darth Vader and The Apprentice or some not-so-familiar ones like Rahm Kota and Maris Brood. The only real outcome of character selection is a change in the color of the light saber – Darth Vader of course has red, but other characters you can choose from have green, turquoise or blue. You can also create your own custom character and light saber if you so desire – you can use RGB sliders to create a unique color and there are four different hilts to choose from.

In the end, the “features” are just padding – but Lightsaber Unleashed is still a great app for the iPhone and a must-have for any Star Wars fan. [rating:4]

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